ECL 12 Elite Weekly Recap - Week 3 - ECL

We're now midway through the ECL 12 Elite season, which means that some teams have by now been able to solidify their spot - be it for good or for bad - in the standings, whereas others might have fluctuated a bit more. One thing that is certain is that now, if ever, would be a great time to turn on the jets for the home stretch of the season.

Surpassing the midway point of the season marks for an exciting time, as it is just about the last chances for any team to attempt turning things around for their season. We've got the usual suspects HAVU Gaming and FILADELPHIA up top. Although HAVU has four games in hand already, there should be no reason for them dropping too much below 3rd place at the furthest if they are able to keep things up. For FILADELPHIA, there's some clouds on the horizon with the potential absence of centerman Joonas @Patzlaf Paatiala for some games in the near future, but with solid backup goaltending by Edvin @Thunborg5 Thunborg and the offensive skillset of Casper @ICappeI Lundgren on the wing, the team should be able to remain competitive, should they schedule any games in Patzlafs absence.

One of the most surprising outcomes around the league this past week was KOVA Esports clinching two victories against contender hREDS by winning 3-2 in regulation and 2-1 in OT, thus leaving hREDS with only one point from a matchup they should have had in the bag. It was in fact an all around very solid week for KOVA, led by clutch efforts and big goals mainly from right winger Jere @Jerax13 Hällström and a string of excellent performances by goaltender Axel @MonkeyHeadAF Falck.

While the middle of the pack is very even and we have around eleven teams in total still fighting for remaining playoff spots, it is looking grim for a few clubs. Newcomers ZSC Esports and Tunnel Vision have fallen into bad runs and haven't been able to convert tight games into points for at a favorable rate. With that, the Swiss are currently sitting at 14th, while the Finnish outfit is dead last, tied in points with Rusty Blades, but at a disadvantage due to tiebreakers. The biggest issue for the teams at the bottom has been an inability to defend as a team at a high enough level combined with some immense struggle scoring. Especially Tunnel Vision is in a pickle, converting at a rate of only 1,29 goals for per game.

When it comes to the individual scoring side of things, hREDS have stepped things up despite their stinging losses against KOVA this past week. Perttu @Beniittto Kemppainen and Niklas @NikkeDangles Tukiainen have secured a double lead for the big, bad reds just ahead of FILADELPHIA's Erik @Eki Tammenpää and Paul @PleeMaker Arontie. As for netting goals, the Swedish sniper Andreas @affelj96 Ljungberg continues to impress with 23 notches to his name so far and is en route to a career high, should he keep up the pace. FBK only played two games last week, but the left winger managed to cash in on five goals against Tunnel Vision.

Seems to be a weekly theme to highlight Johan @Lehmannens Lehmann in these reports too, but the fact is that despite playing only two games this past week, the FBK defenseman is still topping the points department for defensemen throughout the league. However, Joel @jtorro-_- Tourunen from HAVU Gaming is creeping up on him by collecting FIVE goals and seven points in four games throughout the week. With that performance in the books, jtorro now also leads the goal scoring table for defensemen.

As far as goaltending goes, @ICappeI is still performing at the very highest level together with several of his Swedish colleagues, Filip @Faze91- Azri and Johan @McSavid Rundqvist in 2nd and 3rd place respectively. The very experienced Mika @FinKonna Paasikontu for success story GOONS breaks up the Swedish dominance with his 9 wins, putting him at 4th place. Erik @MrAllsvenskan Rotsenius and Ben @benu Rinnet stand out from the pack with exceptionally high saving percentages due to a higher amount of shots faced compared to their peers.